In recent years, in IC cards, mobile phones, etc., wireless communication such as near field communication (NFC) has begun to be used. A user can easily execute communication for an authentication process, an accounting process, etc., simply by performing an operation of holding the IC card or mobile phone over a reader/writer module of a host apparatus.
Jpn. Pat. Appin. KOKAI Publication No. H7-177065 discloses a communication method which executes data communication only once during a time period in which a moving object, which moves on a conveyor, is in a communication-capable range. In this communication method, a presence confirmation signal is sent to the moving object and, it can be determined whether the moving object is within the communication-capable range based on a response from the moving object which responds to the presence confirmation signal.
In the meantime, in the close proximity wireless transfer method, there is such a demand that the execution of a service be automatically started simply by bringing devices close to each other. In the case of automatically executing a service simply by bringing devices close to each other, it is possible to realize, for example, a function of synchronizing the data stored in a mobile phone with the backup of the data stored in a personal computer, simply by bringing the mobile phone close to the personal computer. Thus, in the close proximity wireless transfer method, if the close proximity state of the devices is detected, a connection between the devices is automatically established.
However, if the devices are left in the close proximity state after the execution of the service is completed and the connection between the devices is then released, it is possible that the connection between the devices is established once again. If the execution of the service, which is to be executed between the devices, is already completed when the connection between the devices is established, the process of releasing the connection between the devices is executed once again. Consequently, it is possible that the connection between the devices, which are left in the close proximity state, are repeatedly established and released, despite the execution of the service being already completed.